Mansfield Museum

Mansfield Museum stands on Leeming Street in the centre of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The present building replaced an earlier iron structure known as the Tin Tabernacle in 1938. Wealthy collector William Edward Baily gave the museum to the town in 1903 along with his natural history collection. Local figures such as naturalist Joseph Whitaker and artist Albert Sorby Buxton later added to the holdings. The museum has expanded with an extra gallery added in the 1960s. Its displays show Mansfield’s industrial past through artefacts, photographs, film and audio. Eight major employers feature in the Made in Mansfield gallery, including Metal Box, Shoe Co, Mansfield Brewery and Barrs Soft Drinks. The Albert Sorby Buxton gallery holds watercolours of vanished buildings and lost town views. A ceramics gallery presents lustreware by William Billingsley and Rachel Manner. The museum also focuses on natural history in family-friendly displays. Awards recognise the museum’s work with communities and visitors. In 2011 it won a Guardian award ahead of the Science Museum and Natural History Museum. In 2019 it received a best project on a shoestring prize for a health and heritage scheme. Former curator Liz Weston was awarded an MBE in 2013 for services to heritage and the community. Recent honours include Creative Collections and Inclusive Impact awards for exhibitions and outreach programmes.